Enabling critical infrastructure for climate change adaption & mitigation

Drought has been identified as one of the most likely and economically costly impacts of climate change in New Zealand. Irrigation plays a significant role in mitigating these impacts. Collective irrigation schemes can play an important role in improving the delivery and effectiveness of irrigation in a number of areas. These include: improving the effectiveness of policy / plan implementation; the cost-effective delivery of infrastructure; supporting on-farm behaviour change and the delivery of broader community benefits. Within Canterbury, innovative planning measures have assisted in the delivery of these benefits from irrigation schemes.